What is Conversion and Why Does it Matter?

Here’s the scenario. You’re leaving work after a long day, but you need to pick up groceries for supper, so you drop by the grocery store on the way home.

You were ready for this, and you made a list. It takes a bit of time to go through the aisles. You grab things that are on your list. You grab a couple items that aren’t but look pretty good in the moment. You have a week’s worth of groceries in your cart. It’s time to go to the checkout.

As you stand in line, you have about three people in front of you. It looks like they were planning on the same. You’re going to be a while.

That’s when you see it: the Snickers bar.

It’s right there, within arms reach. You’re going to spend about a hundred bucks already. What’s a few more quarters? You grab one and drop it in your cart.

That’s called a conversion. The store got you to do something they wanted you to, and you were set up for it from the very beginning.

Let’s look at what went into this particular conversion.

1. You went to the store after work, which means you’re probably already going to be hungry.
2. You’ve already been through the whole store filling your cart. That means you probably added a couple of things that weren’t on your list. (Who doesn’t?) Adding items spontaneously to your cart preps you for just one more spontaneous thing.
3. The placement of the candy bar is such that you were standing in a line waiting with it right there tempting you within arms reach the whole time.
4. Oh, and don’t forget the Snickers slogan, “Going to be a while?”

It’s All About Conversion

Ultimately, conversion is the goal of all your marketing. As I’ve already noted, conversion is about getting people to take the action you want them to take. Please don’t get caught in the trap of thinking that conversion is about making a sale. It might be about making a sale, or it might be about something entirely different. It depends on your particular goal at that time.

Heather has already written a fantastic article that details conversion, so I’m not going to get too far into those details here. If you haven’t read it already, I highly recommend you do so now before you continue. What I want to do is I want to expand a little to help refine your understanding of conversion and how to get it.

Think “Why?”

I’m a huge fan of intentionality. In other words, I think it’s important to know not just what you’re doing, but why you’re doing it every step of the way. It’s important when you create a marketing piece that you consider why you want to do this in the first place. Ultimately, you know you want to end up making a sale. But how does this specific piece of marketing fit into that overall goal?

For example, if you’re setting up a lead magnet, ask yourself, “Why do I want to give this to them for free?” There are many good reasons to give away free PDFs, but from a conversion standpoint, your main goal is to draw them into your funnel by getting their email address.

You don’t want to try to make big sales right out of the gate. Instead ask visitors to make a series of steps toward your end goal of making the big sale. Each of those steps is its own conversion. Once you know exactly what that step is that you want and why you want it, then you can focus your marketing experience toward that call to action.

Now, I want to look at a some specific conversion goals that take potential clients on a journey from “who is this?” to “sign me up!”

What are Some Different Types of Conversions?

Facebook Ads

I love Facebook ads. They are economical compared to other forms of advertising. They are also effective. As a bonus, Facebook ads illustrate how a series of conversions can work together.

I really want to start here, though, because it’s a great place for strangers to hear about your brand and what you can do to help them. It’s also convenient because Facebook actually measures certain conversions for you. 

Let’s take a peek at them. 

Post Engagements: When people interact with your posts, Facebook notices. The algorithm thinks, “Hey, if this person liked that post, I should show them more.” So every time someone engages with your post, whether a like or a comment, they are signaling to Facebook that they want the algorithm to send them more. This gives them more opportunities to interact, which can lead to more of your posts in their feed. 

Page Likes: More than likely, it will take a couple of post engagements before someone is ready to like your page. That has a similar effect to post engagement, but with a bit more commitment. What’s important to note is that the more people are willing to engage with your posts, the more willing they are to like your page. Note how one conversion builds into another. 

Conversions: This one is a bit misleading. “Conversions” means getting people to click through to your landing page. So, it’s a specific kind of conversion. This is big, because it sends potential clients off Facebook and onto your website. The main thing to realize here is that people are more likely to click through to your website if they are familiar with your brand on Facebook. That’s where the previous conversions of engagements and page likes come in. 

Again, we’re building up to something one small step at a time. Facebook “conversions” leads us to…

Leads

This is probably the one we are most familiar with. One of the easiest ways to get a lead is with a “lead magnet.” A lead magnet will offer your ideal clients a quick and easy way to solve a problem with minimal effort. It’s free and super valuable, so what’s not to like? When you have the right lead magnet, potential clients will climb all over each other to throw their email addresses your way. 

The most important thing about converting visitors into leads is that they are now in your marketing funnel. Once they are there, you can begin a process of warming them up until they sign up for your products and services. 

And where does that process happen? Of course, through…

Emails

This is your big chance. When people sign up for your emails, they are letting you know they want to hear from you. Now, you get to let them know what you can do for them. Your emails will send value right to their inboxes. 

Each one of those emails will have a Call to Action (CTA), which is your conversion. That CTA may lead them to a blog article. It may be a special article exclusive to your email list. It may be an invitation to purchase a low-price offer. It might even be an exclusive coupon code for a higher-price item as a thank you for signing up to your list. 

Regardless of what that CTA is, it is a conversion and you will design the email to get people to click that button. 

If you have a ton of people signing up for emails, but you aren’t getting a whole lot of clients out if it, be patient. It can take a long time for people to warm up to the point where they are ready to make that kind of investment. 

Conversion is Your Priority Metric

How do you know if your marketing is working? Look at your conversion rate. That’s the key metric for your business. Every conversion leads people down your funnel until they become clients. 

Remember, conversions aren’t about leaping across the river all at once. They work together, like stepping stones to help people get to the side you’re on. Be patient and be intentional every step of the way. 

Your System Should Focus on a Series of Conversions

Please don’t think of “the sale” as the only conversion that matters. Rather than focusing on that big event, focus on a series of small events that lead up to it. Think of them as stepping stones and you’re building a bridge to cover the gaps.

To help you understand how a marketing system works, Heather has put together a free Get Leads & Clients Masterclass for you to watch. If you haven’t watched it already, I recommend you do it now. It will help make sense of how individual conversions operate in their context.